Hong Kong leader announces cabinet

Posted: Tuesday, June 25, 2002

The Associated Press

HONG KONG (AP) - In Hong Kong's biggest shake-up since the handover from Britain to China five years ago, the leader of the island territory named a new Cabinet of political appointees on Monday, replacing civil servants at the top levels of government.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa said he has created an "accountability system" that will run the territory more smoothly, but the overhaul was quickly labeled a "sham" by rivals.

"No accountability system in the world is like this," said lawmaker Martin Lee, who as head of the Democratic Party is Hong Kong's most prominent opposition figure. "It's got nothing to do with accountability to the people. I call it a sham."

Ever since Hong Kong was returned to China, its apolitical civil service, with a reputation for fair and honest dealings, has been viewed as a cornerstone of its continued success as a vibrant and free financial center.

Tung made his announcement after Beijing approved his picks over the weekend. He heralded the changes as "the dawning of a new era for the governance of Hong Kong."

The new arrangement creates a layer of 14 political appointees who will head government bureaus and be answerable to Tung, replacing an old system in which top bureaucrats were responsible for implementing policy. Tung rejected charges he was chipping away at the old system.

"In pursuing any reform, I will not allow the integrity and stability of the civil service to be compromised," he said at a news conference.

The former shipping magnate is unpopular among Hong Kong citizens, who view him as beholden to Beijing and big business.

The deep economic troubles faced by the territory since it reverted to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 haven't helped.

The new Cabinet will be in place for the start of Tung's second five-year term on July 1. The chief executive was re-elected - without opposition - in a restricted electoral process that gave votes to just 800 members of a committee full of pro-Beijing figures and special interest representatives.

The Cabinet lineup contains many officials who worked their way up through the ranks of the old system. Tung's top three deputies - Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang, Financial Secretary Antony Leung and Justice Secretary Elsie Leung - will keep their jobs.

But as political appointees they would be easier for Tung to fire.

Among Tung's 11 other political appointees, six come from within government and five are outsiders. Tung said he had brought in people from a "variety of backgrounds" who will form a government accountable to the people as it "feels the pulse of the community."

That didn't calm his critics.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party grumbled that they were being marginalized as Tung gave seats on his Executive Council, which helps set policies, to the heads of Hong Kong's biggest pro-Beijing and pro-business parties.

"The battle line is clearly drawn," said Lee, head of the Democratic Party.

Local rights activists fear the government will become more politicized and more likely to crack down on those who criticize Beijing.

On Monday, a rights campaigner said Hong Kong authorities had denied entry to a Chinese-American activist who had chronicled the horrors of mainland prison camps where he had spent nearly two decades.

Harry Wu, who was turned away at the Hong Kong airport by immigration officials on April 14, tried again to come this week but was told it would not be in Hong Kong's interests, said Frank Lu, who runs a Hong Kong-based agency that compiles information about Chinese dissidents.

The U.S. consulate voiced concerns to the Hong Kong government, and human rights campaigners said the decision appeared improper and political.

Although Hong Kong is now part of China, it maintains a separate economic and political system, and Western-style civil liberties remain in place under an arrangement dubbed "one country, two systems."